Copacabana 4

Richard Silver uses a photographic technique known as Tilt Shift. This practice has taken off over the last few years in the fields of photography and advertising. It consists of giving the impression of looking at a model or a miniature. However, the spectator is looking at a real and full-size subject. The playful use of soft focus and the clarity alters its interpretation and creates an optical illusion. Contrary to belief these effects are not obtained through retouching. The photographer really does obtain this perfect illusion at the moment of shooting. This technique requires highly specialized equipment which integrates a view camera with a body in front and behind separated by bellows. These elements permit orientation of the plane of focus, adjusting and tilting movements which correct the perspective and the clarity of the picture and modify the depth of field. The soft focus affects the foreground and the background and the extremely reduced depth of the tilt-shift resembles those found in macro-photography. The combination of these different elements immediately leads the viewer to believe that it is a reduced model.